MORE than 250 people joined forces to celebrate harvest festival and raise funds for people in poverty.

Residents were invited to the Malvern Priory for Harvest In A Desert Place on Sunday, with a bring and share lunch including home-baked bread, cheeses and home-grown produce.

Vicar John Barr and his wife, Reverend Mary Barr, performed the service, with hymns, prayers and readings.

Parish secretary Anne Eglington said: "It was a great service, with more than 260 people."

After the event there was a collection for TearFunds Work, a Christian organisation dedicated to helping people living in poverty in the Sahel region of West Africa.

Among the items donated was a 140lb pumpkin grown by West Malvern resident Jeremy Tudge.